We are in safe hands says stand-in manager Bellamy

BURNLEY assistant boss Craig Bellamy refused to pin any blame on Arijanet Muric after a horrible mistake from the keeper cost the Clarets in a 1-1 draw with Brighton.

Five minutes after Josh Brownhill’s goal had given Burnley a late lead, Muric let a routine back pass from Sander Berge slip under his foot.

But Bellamy, taking the place of Vincent Kompany who was serving a touchline ban, said: “It’s us. It’s not his mistake, it’s our mistake.

“Do we call it a mistake? I don’t know. It’s how we play. It won’t change. He’s scored goals for us, doing what he does. It’s one of those, it’s not an issue.

“It’s how we play football. It might not please everyone. We’re not here to please everyone, but we believe in this way of football. It might be naive, I don’t know. I have a three-year-old girl who still believes in rainbows and unicorns.

“That might be me. I honestly believe we’re going to get out of this situation, I believe we’re going to stay up. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m the one believing in rainbows and unicorns.

“But at the same time, I’ve no issue with it. Did you see the save he makes in the last minute? Top. So I’ve got nothing but praise for him.”

Roberto De Zerbi began with the day without nine players out through injury and lost Pervis Estupinan only 13 minutes in, leaving the manager to admit the Seagulls’ hopes of returning to Europe next season are in peril as they sit in 10th place.

He said: “It is a tough moment, we have a lot of injuries. We are too many points from the high positions to reach our European target.”